SMG to host Shroud of Turin expert, exhibit Nov. 23

By Tony Gutiérrez

Associate Editor

October 24, 2013

The Shroud of Turin is displayed in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, April 27. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Dr. John Jackson, the physicist who led a team that thoroughly examined the Shroud of Turin in 1978, and his wife Rebecca, will speak at St. Maria Goretti Church, 1200 S. Davis Dr. in Arlington at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23. The event will coincide with an exhibit put together by Most Blessed Sacrament parishioner Louis Juarez that includes a life-size photograph of the shroud in the church’s cafetorium.

The Shroud of Turin reveals the imprint of a man, and is believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion.

The Jacksons, two of the world’s leading authorities on the Shroud of Turin and the founders and directors of the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado, will be giving a talk titled “The Shroud of Turin: past, present, and future.” In 1978, John and his 40-person research team were granted unprecedented access to the shroud and examined it for nearly a week. According to the center’s website, www.shroudofturin.com, a significant amount of data was collected.

The center’s mission is to continue “its research on the Shroud of Turin and publishing its findings. We are dedicated to educating the public on all of the important scientific and forensic data and evidence concerning the Shroud.”

Juarez, who is organizing the event at St. Maria Goretti, believes in the shroud’s authenticity, and has compiled an exhibit that includes a life-size photograph of the Shroud and smaller images of specific parts of the Shroud accompanied by displays explaining the significance of those portions.

“Once I believed that it is the Lord, I felt I wanted to let other people to understand,” said Juarez, a biochemist and former lab technician with the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Juarez explained how the negatives of the Shroud of Turin reveal a three-dimensional lifelike image of a male body.

“I can tell you in 34 years, I’ve never seen a dead body leave an image on the cloth, and neither has anybody else I know,” Juarez said, adding that the only way this could have happened is through the Resurrection.

“The only possible explanation is the Resurrection event, what happened in the tomb to that body,” he said. He explained that the main theory regarding the image is that when Jesus was resurrected, his body passed through the shroud, chemically altering it and leaving the image.

“To me it makes logical sense,” Juarez said. “The only way you can get that kind of image form is something that science can’t explain.”

“It’s a very complex image – it’s not just a drawing.”

For more information about the event, call the St. Maria Goretti parish office at 817-274-0643, or visit the website at www.smgparish.org, or email event organizer Louis Juarez at You may enable JavaScript to see this email address..

Dr. John Jackson, the physicist who led a team that thoroughly examined the Shroud of Turin in 1978, and his wife Rebecca, will speak at St. Maria Goretti Church, 1200 S. Davis Dr. in Arlington at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23. The event will coincide with an exhibit put together by Most Blessed Sacrament parishioner Louis Juarez that includes a life-size photograph of the shroud in the church’s cafetorium.